Manipur bush quail

The Manipur bush quail (Perdicula manipurensis) is a species of quail found in northeastern India and Bangladesh inhabiting damp grassland, particularly stands of tall grass.[2] It was first collected and described by Allan Octavian Hume on an ornithological expedition to Manipur in 1881.

Manipur bush quail
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Perdicula
Species:
P. manipurensis
Binomial name
Perdicula manipurensis
(Hume, 1880)

P. manipurensis is listed as Endangered on the IUCN's Red List, as its habitat is small, fragmented, and rapidly shrinking.[1]

There was no confirmed sighting of the bird from 1932 until June 2006, when Anwaruddin Choudhury reported spotting the quail in Assam.[3] [4]

BBC News quoted the conservation director of the Wildlife Trust of India, Rahul Kaul, as saying, "This creature has almost literally returned from the dead."[3]

History

A 1911 report by Frank Finn, based on Captain Wood's field notes of 1899, noted that the species was common in the past.[5] Wood noted that the bird was commonly trapped by Manipur people after bush fires and that the local name was lanz-soibol meaning "trap quail".[6]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2013). "Perdicula manipurensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "Manipur Bush-quail - BirdLife Species Factsheet". Retrieved 2006-06-28.
  3. "'Extinct' quail sighted in India". BBC News. 2006-06-28. Retrieved 2006-06-28.
  4. "Rare quail sighted in Assam after 75 years". Newkerala.com. 2006-06-24. Retrieved 2006-06-28.
  5. Finn, Frank (1911), Game birds of India and Asia., Thacker and Spink, Calcutta.
  6. Wood, H.S. (1899). "Note on Hume's Bush-quail (Microperdix manipurensis)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 68: 110.
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